My Wife's University is being Gutted

[Happy Hoosier]

In Indiana… a state university. One of her classes lost about half its students due to international students either having visas denied or simply choosing to not return.

She has to post her class syllabi on a public website next week. One class is a lit class from a disability perspective. She expects this will be the last time that class will run.

The loss of international students is likely to seriously damage her university.

She had planned to retire in 7 years. We are now making back-up plans in case she is forced out early. There are rumors of a buy-out offer. She may even consider that.

What a fucking mess.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. The garbage the piece of shit the scum the maga the puke

Are coming for absolutely everything.

[Initech]

26. We've got to stop them and we've got to kick their asses!

You can't fight these fascist scumbags with strongly worded letters. We need to kick their asses hard.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Education is getting roiled by Trump and from AI too

Any young person working a mediocre job to pay the bills and investing spare cash/tuition in AI is likely to far outpace working for a living.

[ShazzieB]

3. Trump hates education.

Especially higher education, because smart, well-educated people make him feel like the barely literate ignoramus that he is. I think he wants to punish all the smart people for reminding him of how stupid he is.

[dedl67]

34. I think that is exactly it.

Much of his cult feels the same way.

[highplainsdem]

6. You want people to invest in AI? It's a bubble.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. Oracle, 1986

Split 10 times. A $3000 investment is worth north of $16 million, excluding dividends. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Google, NVidia, Micron. Admittedly you have to hit the right ones, but others delivered stellar results too - Intel, AMD. It's not index funds.

[Nigrum Cattus]

4. More RWRE garbage

RWRE = right wing religious extremists

[Demovictory9]

5. Trump is going after the University of California, a world leader in research

For no reason but his need to destroy

[Hekate]

13. I hope the Bear bites back hard when poked. Losing the UC system would be a national tragedy.

[Demovictory9]

28. Trump wants a 1 billion dollar "settlement" from UC

[Hekate]

30. Yes, he wants to bankrupt them -- and the whole country

[Initech]

27. And I'm sure that shitbag Charlie Kirk has something to do with that.

That guy's worthless ass needs to be kicked back to the stone ages!

[Warpy]

7. They willl be back when King Gobshite is gone

Their work is too important to keep them out for long.

It will take a while to repair the damage as schools, hospitals, and other research centers in Canada and Europe (mostly) expand to accept these brilliant students.

Once King Gobshite exits, either because the GOP finally realizes he's just too fucking old for another, illegal term or because it's so obvious to everyone his brain has turned to mush that there's a huge grassroots rebellion, there will no longer be any glue to hold that rotten excuse for a party together since they abandoned all their principles in favor of a cult of personality. They've got nohing left and that is going to be painfully obvious as all the power junkies with no charisma fail to capture his crown.

In any case, canceling visas for foreign born researchers is not going to stand for long. It will be difficult to repair, but it will be repaired.

(I worked at MIT and can't imagine how quiet the halls there are getting without foreign students)

[Hekate]

31. I think it will take a generation to repair, if not longer, IF we can get rid of him & his cohort

There has already been incalculable damage done to all our governmental and educational infrastructure. You can’t just snap your fingers and tell people to come back to their old jobs.

When President Joe Biden went on his first European trip, he said, “We’re back. “ A particularly honest leader in the EU asked, “But for how long? “ And whoever he was, he was right.

That’s a big problem. Trust in America has been shattered.

[FoxNewsSucks]

41. I was thinking the same thing

It's not nearly enough to just oust all the fascists, if that's even still possible. There has to be some way to make sure they STAY gone. Otherwise the US can never be trusted.

[sprinkleeninow]

8. The Enemy, The Evil One....

The phrase "Satan comes but to steal, kill, and destroy" is a reference to John 10:10 in the Bible, where Jesus contrasts his mission with that of a thief. While Jesus came to offer life and abundance, the thief (often interpreted as Satan or the devil) is portrayed as having the sole intention of taking, harming, and eradicating.

[GiqueCee]

9. Trump is...

... the worst thing to happen to this country since the Civil War. He is a traitor doing exactly what Putin told him to do: Destroy the nation from within, flush its reputation down Trump's gold-painted crapper, and alienate all our allies so we are a pariah country. And those with the power to stop him are just letting him get away with it. "For the good of the country", say Republicans. BULLSHIT!
Republican treachery must never, EVER be forgiven. Not ever. They make Benedict Arnold look like a Boy Scout.
I'm finding it harder and harder to contain my white-hot rage.

[Hekate]

14. I'm inclined to agree, considering the damage done

[GiqueCee]

24. Even considering the high estimates...

... of casualties during the Civil War, Trump is very likely responsible for more American deaths. He is evil incarnate, AND dumber than a bag of hammers.

[Hekate]

25. Like a bag of hammers, also very useful in the wrong hands. I'm thinking of the Doge Bros.

[GiqueCee]

33. When all you've got...

... is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

[Hekate]

40. Hell yes

[NNadir]

10. My wife and sons are all in academia. They are all worried, although my youngest son is a grad student...

...finishing up his Ph.D.

My wife goes into work every day wondering if she'll be let go.

My oldest son is employed in a University Art Department, and he is really, really, really worried, since all of his conversations with the faculty are about money. (His department got an 8 million dollar anonymous grant, so that helps.)

[mike_c]

20. I picked a good time to retire

Fully retired three years ago. I loved my work, so I'm glad for the great memories and good friends. I think higher education was on a declining trajectory even before Trump, with massive administrative bloat and rising anti-intellualism nationally.

[caraher]

12. They're going after all education at all levels

An ignorant population hypnotized by AI slop is less able to fight back (or even figure out that they should).

I don't understand how anyone could bring in international students at all in this environment. And were I mentoring grad students I would definitely encourage them to look into working outside the US.

[Hekate]

15. I believe creating an ignorant populace is a giant goal of the Mad King's backers

[Cheezoholic]

18. Since 1968, that's when it began, in California n/t

[thought crime]

23. The Late, Great 1968 !!

Also, I miss Jerry Brown !

[Botany]

21. Trump, "I love the poorly educated."

The man is burning America to the ground to make his bosses Vlad Putin and Musk
happy. Add Peter Theil to that list too. Next up Crypto will be the new currency of the
United States.

We’re so screwed. This is a nightmare.

[dedl67]

37. I have international grad students. I worry every day what may happen to them.

I think that the bozos in this administration have no idea how important scientific research and education are to this country. Health and food security depend on research to control both human disease and pests to our agricultural systems. International students are a major factor contributing to this research.

[Cha]

16. I'm So Sorry, Happy Hoosier!

Best of Good Luck to your wife and you!

[ancianita]

17. Very sorry you're both experiencing this.

But glad you're thinking ahead. A buyout can be a good deal for you, and give you one or more new options, even if the state is culturally poorer because of its lower college enrollments.

It doesn't help you feel better to know why, either, since the unexpected consequences of this last election are becoming too numerous to list.

Hope you both come out tolerably well on the other side.

[bluestarone]

19. How could something this EVIL be allowed

To our great country? I do not understand the religious right supporting these SCUMBAGS!!

[Botany]

22. His support comes from racism, sexism, and anti intellectualism. He scratches that itch for them.

Along with the millionaires and billionaires who program the media.

[NickB79]

29. Forbes: Many U.S. Colleges May Close Without Immigrants And International Students, Report Finds

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/08/14/many-colleges-may-close-without-immigrants-and-international-students/

Data show a bleak picture without the foreign born. Current immigration policies, including toward international students, affect the future of U.S. higher education.

“Without immigrants, international students and the children of immigrants, the undergraduate student population in America would be almost 5 million students smaller in 2037 than 2022, or about two-thirds of its current size, while the graduate student population would be at least 1.1 million students smaller, or only about 60% of its current size,” according to the NFAP study.

Her's won't be the last.

[dalton99a]

35. +1

[Glaisne]

38. Basically only the most well endowed, most expensive and hardest to get into Universities

will be most of the ones to survive. Especially the ones that willingly toe the line like the private conservative institutions. Public Universities will be gutted. Leaving higher education out of reach of more students, creating an even more dumbed down and conservative population. It is a positive feedback death spiral. Have a nice day!

[live love laugh]

32. Bruce Rauner former IL gov. attacked the state universities in IL.

Thank God Pritzker has revived them—but they’re still not 100%. I swear I hate Republicans. All they do is destroy everything.

[Glaisne]

36. Part of the plan for dictatorial take over.

Neuter the Universities, law firms, the courts, media, political opposition, and place troops in blue cities. It's a well known authoritarian take over play book, complete with weak and ineffective opposition.

[Jokerman]

39. Another Indiana educator contemplating early retirement.

Budgets are strained.

Enrollment is down.

They love to "get rid of" long-term employees on the high end of the pay scale.

My plan was for another three years but at this point I just don't know.